2010 Wrap-up -> 2011 Ramp-up

My heart is ravisht with delight,

when thee I think upon;

All grief and sorrow takes the flight,

and speedily is gone;

The bright resemblance of thy face,

so fills this, heart of mine;

that force nor fate can me displease,

for Old long syne.

-Robert Burns

What an amazing year 2010 has been for us…Jon’s business grew a ton, moved to a great neighborhood, and of course sweet Jack was welcomed into the world and our hearts. We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas with Bre’s family and am now in California with Jon’s family for a nice, restful time before we really kick 2011 into gear. Here’s some pictures of Jack’s first Christmas.

You can pretty much see the contagious excitement of Christmas registering on his face in these next 3 photos:

What's everybody starin' at me for?

Ohhh, I think I'm starting to get it.

It's Christmas!!!!!!!

Buddy got some great classic toys, some books, and even a Baby Signing DVD. Mommy got a Kindle and Daddy got his BluRay player plus some other fun stuff. Very blessed Christmas indeed.

We were able to enjoy some time with my Dad and Jackie before they left for New Orleans, then enjoyed Christmas Day at Gemma’s (my mom’s) with that side of the family. Mom came in after Christmas and watched Jack so Jon and I could go out to dinner for our 3-year anniversary then helped us to the airport the next day as we were California-bound!

We’ve been here almost a week now and it’s been a much-needed wonderful and restful time. Jack got to meet all his cousins (he’s the youngest on Jon’s side and first on my side) and immediately felt at home with his California family. It’s been pretty cold here so we’ve mostly stayed inside and close to the fire but will venture out soon to show Jack Pappaw’s chickens and the beautiful tall trees…wouldn’t you just chill out and relax too if every window you looked out of showed this:

And the view inside is this:

Here’s us on a walk:

Looking up at the tall, tall trees

It’s been a great trip! We did catch ourselves a cold which has not been fun but we’re in the perfect place to rest up and get better. Jon’s mom has been making us carrot juice every night and there’s the cozy fire to warm up too as well…not to mention, lots of people to hold Jack! :)

Jon and I have had some great ‘goals of 2011’ conversations so excited to get home and seize the new year. Here’s a few of our goals:

• E-course – Something I’m really excited about is the Fundamental Foods e-course we signed up for from GNOWFGLINS – an awesome website/blog about preparing and cooking traditional foods (in line with the Nourishing Traditions way of eating) We’ve already done our first couple lessons and it’s been awesome! Excited to implement what we’ve learned so far and will definitely blog more about it later.
• Sewing biz (etsy shop and such)….it’s not up yet but gonna take the next few months to experiment with different items and hopefully launch my Etsy shop by Spring and open a booth at really cool local boutique called IndieGenius.
• Paying down more debt – this is always a goal but now that Jack is here safe and sound, we’re kicking into high gear!

There’s many more goals we want to work on of course in all departments…spiritual, relational, etc but more on those later. Blogging more is always a goal so hopefully I’ll keep that going too…just bear with us if there’s a lag. ;-)

In the meantime, Happy New Year!

J + B + j